Information Architecture for Crop Growth Simulation Model Applications

There is a growing concern that climate changes will lead to significant impact to agriculture, thus having a global effect in food production. The application of crop models to study the potential impact of climate change and climate variability provides a direct link between models, science and the concerns of the society. The objective of this work is to demonstrate an information architecture that consistently and coherently achieves the requirements for data availability and use model integration for crop models researchers. The system includes a database structure for storage of model input and output data. The information architecture, and its constituent crop models, is being applied in evaluating farming practices, technological innovation and climate variability/change impact on agriculture in Southern part of Brazil. This effort is part of the global Agricultural Model Intercomparison and Improvement Project (AgMip).